CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Receives Average Rating of “Reduce” from Brokerages

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) has been given an average recommendation of “Reduce” by the fifteen brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $229.27.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CME. Oppenheimer raised their price target on CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th.

CME Group Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $232.71 on Tuesday. CME Group has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $249.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The business has a fifty day moving average of $233.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $219.77. The stock has a market cap of $83.86 billion, a PE ratio of 24.47, a PEG ratio of 4.93 and a beta of 0.56.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.25 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that CME Group will post 10.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a $5.80 dividend. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.37%.

CME Group declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other CME Group news, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total value of $226,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,403,279.44. The trade was a 8.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total value of $89,168.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 25,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,587,935.64. This represents a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 7,274 shares of company stock valued at $1,648,071 in the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of CME Group

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Meyer Handelman Co. acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,144,000. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC boosted its stake in CME Group by 58.4% in the 3rd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 613,828 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $135,441,000 after purchasing an additional 226,306 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in CME Group by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,284,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,823,964,000 after purchasing an additional 142,692 shares in the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 149.4% in the 2nd quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 23,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,671,000 after purchasing an additional 14,234 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 18.3% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,826,501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $403,017,000 after purchasing an additional 283,171 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About CME Group

CME Group Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates contract markets for the trading of futures and options on futures contracts worldwide. It offers futures and options products based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, agricultural commodities, energy, and metals, as well as fixed income and foreign currency trading services.